Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
12-11-2023
LONDON: Hundreds of thousands of people have marched in central London chanting “Stop bombing Gaza” and “Ceasefire now” in the largest Palestine solidarity demonstration held in the country so far.
Police estimate that about 300,000 demonstrators joined the march on Saturday, which fell on the same day as the annual Armistice Day commemorations marking the end of World War I and honouring those killed in military action.
Ahead of the event, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had called its timing “disrespectful”.
“These are huge numbers, and it’s unprecedented,” said media.
“It’s a message to the British government as well, who tried to have this march banned by the police.”
The “National March for Palestine” was the latest in a series of rallies in the British capital to show support for the Palestinians since Israel launched an air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip following Palestinian group Hamas’s attacks on southern Israel on October 7.
The Hamas assault killed about 1,200 Israelis, and saw more than 240 taken captive.
Israel’s attacks, which it has said are aimed at wiping out the Palestinian group that rules Gaza, have killed more than 11,000 people in 34 days, including more than 4,500 children.
Former British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn and Member of Parliament for Islington also took part in the rally and demanded a ceasefire.
The UK government’s ministers had called for Saturday’s march to be cancelled because it falls on Armistice Day.
Sunak told reporters on Wednesday that he would hold the Metropolitan police commissioner accountable for safety since the police official defied demands to ban the pro-Palestine protests.
Police said at least 82 people were arrested in central London on Saturday “to prevent a breach of the peace”. They were members of a group of counter protesters who opposed the pro-Palestinian rally under way in the city.
A few hours before the protest began on Saturday, a mile (1.6km) away from the start of the march, about 1,000 people lined the streets to watch the remembrance events at the Cenotaph war memorial.
Among the crowd, some right-wing counter protesters opposed to the pro-Palestinian march chanted messages including, “We want our country back.” (Int’l News Desk)
